Williston Corbelled Houses

Corbelling is a building method where each course of stone is laid slightly inward of the one below until the walls meet overhead, forming a dome without any beam, arch or mortar - the same principle as Mycenaean tombs and Irish clocháns. Trekboers moving into the Karoo in the early nineteenth century used it for a practical reason: there was no timber on those plains for roof beams, and stone was everywhere. The result is a scatter of round or square stone houses with domed roofs across the Williston and Carnarvon districts, most of them on farms, some restored and some collapsing. A restored example stands in Williston itself with the local museum, and farm owners will sometimes show theirs by arrangement. They are cool inside in extreme heat, which was the other advantage. The technique died out once transport made timber available.

What you actually see

• The corbelled dome - stone laid inward course by course until it closes, with no timber.
• The reason - a treeless plain where roof beams could not be had.
• The Williston example - a restored house in town beside the museum.
• The farm scatter - originals across the district, some restored, some falling in.

When to go

April to September - summer here is brutally hot. Two hours.

Honest expectations

Most examples are on private farms and need arrangement through the town or the owners. The restored ones are few. Williston is small and remote with limited services. Summer temperatures make midday visits unpleasant.

Nearby

Calvinia is west; Carnarvon and the SKA radio telescope area are east.